Outdoors: Worcester was hub of big-time pigeon racing

Friday

Mar 1, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Mark Blazis Outdoors

Racing thoroughbreds may be the sport of kings, but racing pigeons not long ago was the sport of hundreds of Worcesterites.

The sport began in America in the 1870s, bolstered to a significant degree by the interest of European immigrants arriving here in large numbers. The pigeon, after all, originated in Europe and was introduced here.

No one currently knows more about pigeon racing in Worcester County than North Grafton master racer Pat Legor, an 87-year-old Albanian. He possesses irreplaceable archives and recollections of the sport which deserve local chronicling before it’s all forgotten.

The retired paving company owner has been racing pigeons for 66 years, several decades with his still-enthusiastic racing partner, Carol Murphy. She and Ann Pogazelski were among the first local women permitted to join this once males-only tradition. One male pigeon club member insistent on keeping the sport a bastion just for males loudly voted to prevent her admittance. Women have long struggled to achieve their rightful position, even in the pigeon world.

After buying a house together, the lovebirds decided their first priority was putting up a pigeon coop in their back yard. Pigeon racing has bonded them together since.

Today, Legor has about a hundred pigeons in his coop behind the house at 4 Fairlawn St. Many of them are Morris Gordons, his favorite racing strain. Not long ago, he had double that number. He and his birds over the years have won numerous races and set some records. One of the surprises he shared with me this week was the great extent to which Worcester was involved in big-time pigeon racing.

Worcester had about a dozen clubs in the heyday of pigeon racing from the 1930s through the ’80s. There were almost 200 clubs then throughout New England. With many clubs having limited memberships, aspiring local racers often had to wait years until someone died or resigned before they could join the Harmony Pigeon Club, Worcester Hill Top Pigeon Club, Blue Banner Pigeon Club, Vernon Flying Club, Greenwood Flying Pigeon Club, or Worcester Homing Pigeon Club.

Many clubs had an ethnic flavor, with Italians, Poles and Lithuanians particularly prominent. Indeed, the modern sport of pigeon racing began in the mid-1800s in Belgium, where birds were genetically selected for speed and endurance. Most racing pigeons all over the world have Flemish origins.

Grafton’s Frank Pogazelski was one of our greatest racers ever. He learned the well-kept secrets of training pigeons from the renowned Wyman Gordon maintenance foreman, Ed Bullock. Mike Walsh was the founding president of the Worcester Racing Pigeon Club and the Worcester Homing Pigeon Club in the 1930s.

Legor recalls the early days when Wickett’s Poultry Shop on Bartlett Street downtown sold pigeons to train — or eat — for 50 cents each. Prices for good pigeons have increased steadily. In the 1940s, decent racers sold for $25 to $50.

Today, eight baby pigeons with good racing genes sell for $500, while young birds showing good potential will cost from $200 to $300 each. Legor has spent as much as $1,000 for a special bird. With many great birds being flown in Europe today, imported birds are being sold at a premium, from $500 to several thousand dollars each. A famous champion flyer, Legor said in disbelief, sold for a record $200,000.

Pigeon racing is popular today, especially in Belgium, Holland and Germany, and there are still some big conventions and big-money races in the United States. Winners of Vegas races take home from $30,000 to $80,000. In areas of the U.S., pigeon racing still dominates. In Springhill, Fla., for example, the majority of homes are owned by pigeon flyers.

Locally, the story is far different. Prize money is generally between $2,000 and $5,000. Winners earn much of their money by selling the promising offspring of the winning birds. Racing has dwindled in importance here.

Many of the great local racers have passed away and most clubs have shut down because of economic reasons and declining membership. Today’s youth are seduced by other attractions. The Worcester Homing Pigeon Club that made 41 Burghardt St. famous shut its doors a little more than a decade ago when aging members, faced with burdensome maintenance costs, voted to sell it.

Today, the nearest pigeon clubs are the Central Mass. Combine in Chicopee and the Rhode Island Pigeon Club in North Attleboro.

Racing costs, even in the early days, were always a problem. Club pigeon racing requires getting large numbers of birds from many members to faraway (100 to 550 miles) release locations. That challenge was accomplished initially by shipping them by railway express.

Racers have a dilemma. They need to be home when their pigeons arrive, and they can’t drive anywhere near as fast as the pigeons can fly. To save money today, racers from many clubs have all their birds shipped together by truck ($150 to ship up to 20 birds to 10 races) to the site where they’ll be released. That fee includes watering and feeding along the way. Pigeons are encouraged to eat as much as they want to have enough energy for their return flight.

It takes two solid days to drive Worcester County pigeons to their longest races in Sandusky, Ohio (550 miles away) and Cleveland (500 miles). They always leave on a Thursday night for the weekend competition. Meanwhile, racers await with great anticipation the thrill of their athletic pigeons’ amazingly fast flight. How the birds find their way home remains an ever-intriguing mystery.

Today — Comprehensive presentation of Eastern coyote research by Dr. Jonathan Way, an authority and author. Presented by Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine and the Grafton Land Trust, 7 p.m., Tufts Agnes Varis Campus Center Auditorium, Grafton. Free to the public.